Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome to Seeking Alpha's Wall Street Lunch, our afternoon update on today's market action, news, and analysis.
Good afternoon, today is Thursday, April 2nd, and I'm your host, Kim Kahn.
Chapter 2: What are the implications of the Anthropic Claude Code leak?
Our top story so far, Anthropic is working to contain Fallout after accidentally revealing internal instructions used to direct its AI coding agent, Claude Code.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Anthropic initially issued a broad copyright takedown request to remove more than 8,000 copies of the raw instructions shared on GitHub, before narrowing the request to 96 posts after saying the first sweep reached more accounts than intended.
A spokesperson said the leak of some internal source code did not expose customer data or the core model weights, the mathematical parameters that power its AI models. However, it did reveal commercially sensitive techniques and tools used to enable Cloud Code to function as a coding agent. Those tools, known as a harness, allow users to control and direct the model.
Chapter 3: How did Tesla's Q1 deliveries compare to expectations?
The leak effectively gives rivals and developers insight into how to replicate key features without reverse engineering. Among active stocks, Tesla delivered about 358,000 vehicles in Q1, missing the 365 consensus estimate. Production totaled more than 408,000 vehicles. Model 3 and Y deliveries came in near 342K, with other models accounting for roughly 16,000.
Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond are gaining a foothold after the company announced plans to acquire several assets, including the Containers Store, which emerged from bankruptcy last year and is now creditor-owned.
Chapter 4: What trends are emerging in hiring plans for March?
And steel and aluminum names including Nucor, Cleveland Cliffs, ArcelorMittal, and Alcoa are under pressure after the Wall Street Journal reported that finished products containing imported steel and aluminum would face a 25% tariff.
The tariff would apply to the entire value of derivative products containing those metals, replacing the current structure that applies duties only to the value of steel or aluminum components.
Chapter 5: How is McDonald's adapting its menu to attract budget-conscious consumers?
Looking to the economy, with the official March jobs report arriving on Good Friday, a market but not federal holiday, Challenger's report showed an uptick in hiring plans. Employers announced 32,826 planned hires in March, up 157% from February and 149% from a year earlier. Still announced hiring plans for 2026 total 50,887 through March, down 6% from the same period in 25.
In other news of note, McDonald's is expanding its value offerings as it looks to win back budget-conscious consumers.
Chapter 6: Which stocks are hedge funds currently shorting?
Beginning in April, the chain plans to roll out menu items priced at $3 or less, alongside a $4 breakfast deal and lunch and dinner meal bundles starting at $5. Under $3 breakfast options include the Sausage McMuffin, Sausage Biscuit, Sausage Burrito, Hash Browns, and Medium McCafe Premium Roast Coffee.
Lunch and dinner items at the price point include the McChicken, McDouble, 4-Piece McNuggets, Small Fries, and a Medium Soft Drink. The company is also bringing its meal deal back to breakfast. And in the Wall Street Research Corner, B of A's equity team is flagging stocks that hedge funds are heavily shorting.
Those stocks could be candidates for a short squeeze if there's positive fundamental news. The names include Moderna, Supermicrocomputer, Best Buy, Skyworks Solutions, and Coinbase. Check out the full list in the story on Seeking Alpha. That link will be in show notes.
That's all for today's Wall Street Lunch. Look for links for stories in the show notes section. Don't forget, these episodes will be up with transcriptions at seekingalpha.com and join the elite community of real investors to unearth great investing ideas. Just head to seekingalpha.com slash subscriptions.